Japan Cup

News, Articles, Videos and other content about Japan Cup

Yoshino Matsumoto is willing to do just about anything to get a spot on the rail at the finish line for major races at Japan Racing Association tracks -- including camping out by the front gate for as long as a week.

Frankie Dettori needed every ounce of his riding skills to get Alkaased to the line first in the 25th running of the Japan Cup (Jpn-I) at Tokyo Race Course on Sunday, winning the 2,400 meter turf race by a nose over the fast-closing Japanese-bred runner Heart's Cry in world-record time of 2:22.10.

Though Japanese Triple Crown winner Deep Impact is sitting this one out, Sunday's 25th running of the Japan Cup (Jpn-I) boasts two Breeders' Cup winners, one winner of the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe Lucien Barriere (Fr-I), a two-time Vodafone Coronation Cup (Eng-I) winner, and the two previous winners of the Japan Cup.

TVG will become the first American TV network to present live, on-site coverage of horseracing from Japan when it telecasts that country's two most important international racing events – the Japan Cup Dirt (Jpn-I) and the Japan Cup (Jpn-I) on Nov. 25 and 26, respectively.

Hollywood Gold Cup Handicap (gr. I) winner Lava Man, who will try to give trainer Doug O'Neill his second victory in three years in the Japan Cup Dirt, worked six furlongs in 1:12 1/5 at Hollywood Park Saturday morning and is set to head to Japan on Tuesday.

Japanese-trained horses swept the top three positions in the Japan Racing Association's two major group I international races, when Zenno Rob Roy won the Japan Cup and Time Paradox took the Japan Cup Dirt, both run at Tokyo Racecourse on Nov. 28 under sunny skies.

Tap Dance City found the boggy Tokyo race course turf to his liking on Sunday, romping to a nine-length victory in the $4-million Japan Cup (Jpn-I) and fulfilling a career-long dream for jockey Tetsuzo Sato and trainer Shouzou Sasaki.

Fleetstreet Dancer, winless for the past year, fought back like a champion in the shadow of the finish line, coming back under jockey Jon Court at odds of 48-1 to shock odds-on favorite Admire Don and win the $2-million Japan Cup Dirt (Jpn-I) by a nose at a drenched Tokyo race course on Saturday.

If Johar becomes America's first Japan Cup (Jpn-I) winner since Golden Pheasant won the 12-furlong international turf race in 1991, he'll not only have to overcome a top-class field that is headed by Japanese star Symboli Kris S. He will, for the first time in his career, be tested on a racetrack that is anything other than fast or firm.

Jockeys Alex Solis, Victor Espinoza and Corey Nakatani will be busy on Nov. 30. All three have been able to make flight arrangements that will enable them to ride in both the $4 million Japan Cup (Jpn-I) and the $600,000 Hollywood Derby (gr. IT) and $500,000 Matriarch (gr. IT) at Hollywood Park later in the day.

The Thoroughbred Corporation's Johar, dead-heat winner of the John Deere Breeders' Cup Turf (gr. IT), heads a contingent of six U.S. horses for which invitations have been accepted for the Japan Cup (Jpn-I) and Japan Cup Dirt (Jpn-I) Tokyo Racecourse.

The Thoroughbred Corporation's Johar, dead-heat winner of the John Deere Breeders' Cup Turf (gr. IT), heads a contingent of five U.S. horses for which invitations have been accepted for the Japan Cup (Jpn-I) and Japan Cup Dirt (Jpn-I) Tokyo Racecourse.

Johar, who made history with High Chaparral as the first to produce a dead-heat in the 20 years of the Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships, will make his next start in the Japan Cup (Jpn-I) at Tokyo Racecourse on Nov. 30, trainer Richard Mandella said Wednesday.

Sarafan, America's only hope to break a 10-year drought in the Japan Cup (Jpn-I), drew the number eight post position in a field of 16 international runners set to go postward Sunday in the world's richest turf race, moved to Nakayama racecourse and dropped from 12 to 11 furlongs in distance because of construction of a new grandstand at Tokyo racecourse.

Irresistible Jewel is no longer being considered for Saturday's Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf (gr. IT), her trainer saying the Japan Cup is now the most likely spot for the Moyglare Stud's two-time Group III winner.

The Thoroughbred Corp.'s War Emblem, the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner who has been purchased for stud duty in Japan by the Yoshida family's Shadai Stallion Station, has been nominated for the Nov. 23 Japan Cup Dirt, the main track companion race to the Japan Cup turf race held the following day.

English bookmaking firm William Hill has dropped Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Marienbard from its board for the Breeders' Cup Turf (gr. IT), citing the horse's "withdrawal" from the race at Arlington Park Oct. 26.

There are many questions going into Sunday's 21st running of the Japan Cup (Jpn-I), whose nearly $4-million purse makes it one of the world's richest races. But first and foremost on the minds of many American racing fans is whether or not the four-horse U.S. contingent can break a 10-year victory drought in the 2,400 meter turf race.

Trainer Robert Frankel would rather be in Kentucky, sending Lido Palace out against reigning Horse of the Year Tiznow in the $400,000 Clark Handicap (gr. II) at Churchill Downs. But with Tiznow retired to stud, the Hall of Fame conditioner is content to be in Tokyo, Japan, taking a shot at the $2-million purse in the second running of the Japan Cup Dirt (Jpn-I) on Saturday.

The United States will have a strong contingent of seven horses at this year's Japan Cup (Jpn-I) and Japan Cup Dirt (Jpn-I) invitational races at Tokyo racecourse next Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 24-25, including horses trained by Hall of Fame conditioners Jonathan Sheppard, Neil Drysdale, Richard Mandella, and Robert Frankel.

Lido Palace, winner of the grade I Whitney and Woodward, will make his next start in the $2.3 million Japan Cup Dirt on Nov. 24, trainer Bobby Frankel confirmed Thursday morning. Frankel also will send Turf Classic winner Timboroa for the Japan Cup, to be run on the turf the following day.

The top three finishers from the Breeders' Cup Turf and Classic winner Tiznow head a list of horses invited to the Japan Cup and Japan Cup Dirt that will be run at Tokyo Racecourse the weekend of Nov. 24-25.

The Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships aren't the only races being run this Saturday. Just ask Ron Anson, who with wife Susie owns a 4-year-old colt named Sign of Fire, scheduled to run at Tokyo Racecourse on Saturday in the $750,000 Musashino Stakes (Jpn-III).

Japanese superhorse T.M. Opera O gave his many fans some anxious moments, but the 1-2 favorite ultimately prevailed in Sunday's $4.4 million Japan Cup (Jpn-I), winning by a neck over another Japanese runner, Meisho Doto, who just lasted for second over Godolphin's hard-charging Fantastic Light.

American runners John's Call, Timboroa, Euchre, and Lord Sterling had their first serious exercise at Tokyo race course on Thursday in preparation for the Japan Racing Association's two major group I international races: the inaugural $2.4 million Japan Cup Dirt at 1 5/16 miles on Saturday and the $4.4 million Japan Cup run at a mile and a half over the turf on Sunday.